Via AllahP, here’s a clip of Boyle on the Early Show:
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AllahP alludes to Boyle’s congenital shyness and learning disabilities; certainly, I’d love to see her work with people who can shelter her from some of the brutality of show business. This woman has suffered enough and been selfless enough in her life; whoever it is that manages her career must not exploit her, but simply help us to access her music and her talent and her beauty as a person.
[T]he anchors [talk] to her almost as if she’s a child — which may not be totally inappropriate. I’m not sure what’s “wrong” with her exactly, whether it’s just an extreme case of social awkwardness or something more, but needless to say that authenticity is at the core of the popular fascination with her. When was the last time someone so talented so utterly exploded the stereotype of how an entertainer should be?
The Anchoress takes on the notion that Boyle is somehow “redeemed” by her voice. Of course not, but there is a tendency to conflate the way she’s treated in her village with the way people were prepared to recieve her at that awful “talent show”—and that is what those shows are about. It’s the reason I don’t watch them. That audience might have suspected that she had an inflated view of her vocal range (before finding out how wrong they were), but the people where she live knew how selflessly she’s lived, and I certainly hope they’ve accorded her the respect she deserves, at least in recent years. (Junior high school and high school don’t count; these are cruel places, and should be replaced with maximum-security prisons.)
And the Anchoress continues to muse about the “moral” of the Susan Boyle story, which has to do with the Divine Spark in all of us. And this is the easiest thing to forget, until we are forced to remember.
Via Insty, Bob Krumm links the two big stories of the week—that of the Tea Parties and Ms. Boyle—and draws a parallel between these internet phenomena and the ascent of Obama to the Presidency. There is something amusing about Oprah Winfrey trying to jump on the Boyle Bandwagon, and the GOP attempting to make political capital out of tea parties. Too late.
Meanwhile, there are some things that cannot be accomplished via YouTube, including the production of a high-quality recording of Ms. Boyle’s singing. The Anchoress, and I, and the rest of the world, will have to re-learn patience, as these things take weeks and months. (Sometimes years, but I doubt it will be that long in this instance.)
In the meantime, we’ll have to content ourselves with electronic samizdat:
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You are the one who first spotlighted Ms. Boyle for me. My father and I were watching her this morning in the clip you have above and after one of the news anchors remarked that she is late in starting her singing career because she was a caregiver for her parents he turned to me and said, “That’s what you’ve done, too.” I thought that was enormously sensitive and generous of him. As it happens, my decades of caregiving have saved my life, although I still have to start making my own money again.
On my site I link a book by Stuart Lichtman, who writes that if you can imagine achieving something, or someone else’s achievement resonates with you strongly, it is something you are indeed capable of realizing. I would not have paid so much attention to Susan Boyle’s overnight success founded on a lifetime of achievement, but thanks to you I have and it resonates with me — it is uncomfortable to have had beauty and lost it and to feel so very shabby — so much that I can only tell you that your bringing her story into my life is more inspiring than I can say. Tears are running down my cheeks as I write and I am grateful to you with all my heart.
Cynthia
I wish her all the best. What a beautiful voice!
Makes me lament all the millions of beautiful voices/songs I will never hear from the millions of talented singers/songwriters that never get a chance to be heard because of the state of the music industry over the last twenty years. If people only knew! Thank goodness for the internet. Hopefully we’ll see even more access in the future.
So I guess we can expect CBS to put anchors on the air with commensurate news reading skills as Ms Boyle’s singing, independent of looks? I’ll be holding my breath.